NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 29 – Safaricom has announced plans to launch a Sh20 a day 4G smartphone package aimed at empowering customers currently on 2G devices to upgrade and enjoy high-speed internet connectivity.
The package is in partnership with Google and is based on insights and learnings from the Maisha Ni Digital campaign that saw over 1 million customers acquiring 4G enabled devices.
The new campaign seeks to empower an extra one million customers to upgrade to 4G enabled devices in this financial year.
The announcement was made as the company released financial results for the year ended 31st March 2020 which saw the profit and total comprehensive income for the year grow 19.5 percent year on year but normalized for the exceptional share of profit of joint venture, at 14.3 percent year on year Sh71.7 billion with service revenue growing to Sh251.2billion.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said, “smartphone device is critical in supporting the new realities brought about by COVID-19. This proposition aims to support Kenyans during and beyond this pandemic by enabling them access more opportunities, be it learning, working or running businesses from the comfort of their homes,” said Ndegwa.
More details on this will be released by the end of this quarter.
Android and Platforms Partnerships for Africa C1 – Public director Mariama Abdullahi said the company’s goal has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone.
She added that access to the opportunities the internet offers is critical for any nations’ economic growth and social inclusion.
“Majority of Kenyans and Africans at large access the internet via mobile broadband. In Kenya approximately 60 percent of the mobile phone install base is still on 2G feature phones and 40 percent smartphones with key barriers to people coming online being device and data affordability. We believe that this collaboration with Safaricom will bring more Kenyans access and the means to partake in the opportunities that exist online,” she said.
This year’s financial results were driven by growth in M-PESA revenue, which grew by 12.6 percent to hit Sh84.44 billion, contributing 33.6 percent of the service revenue.
Mobile data revenue increased by 12.1 percent to Sh40.67 billion.
The company’s messaging revenue declined by 12.3 percent to Sh17.17 billion.
